A Naperville man says a police officer used powerful license plate surveillance technology to track him across the country after beginning a relationship with his fiancée, and an internal police investigation later found extensive evidence that the officer used the system for personal reasons.
ABC7 Chicago investigative reporter Mark Rivera said Patrick Dowhen told the I-Team he was never accused of a crime, yet former Naperville police officer Oscar Maldonado searched for Dowhen’s vehicle more than 100 times through Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader system.
“Anywhere I went in the country, I was being tracked,” Dowhen told Rivera. “And it’s scary, you know, it’s really scary.”
According to internal Naperville Police Department records obtained by ABC7, the searches began after Maldonado started a relationship with Dowhen’s ex-fiancée, and investigators eventually concluded there was a preponderance of evidence that Maldonado abused his authority and committed official misconduct.
Dowhen Says He Realized Someone Was Watching Him
Dowhen said he first became suspicious when his ex-fiancée began telling him where he had been and what he had been doing.
He believed Maldonado was supplying her with information gathered through police technology.
“My ex-fiancée would tell me where I was at, or what I was doing, and he was feeding her information,” Dowhen said. “So he’s an officer of the law, feeding a civilian, you know, inside information.”
The concern became serious enough that Dowhen took apart his truck while searching for a hidden physical tracking device.
He eventually brought his suspicions to Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres, prompting an internal investigation into possible official misconduct and stalking.
Rivera reported that police interrogation records later showed Maldonado had searched Flock for Dowhen’s vehicle approximately 150 times over a three-month period.
For Dowhen, that went far beyond curiosity.
“I mean, that’s stalking,” he said. “You start learning people’s patterns or behaviors, when they go to work, where they go to work, when they go to the gym.”
Internal Investigation Found More Than 100 Pieces of Evidence
Naperville police investigators gathered more than 100 pieces of evidence as they examined Maldonado’s use of the system.
Their report found violations of department policy and the law enforcement code of ethics, along with what investigators described as an abuse of authority.
The report concluded there was “a preponderance of evidence” showing Maldonado committed official misconduct and noted that he admitted during questioning that he had used Flock for personal reasons.
Maldonado, however, told investigators that he had been concerned about the safety of Dowhen’s ex-fiancée and his own family.
Police investigators rejected that explanation, writing that the evidence contradicted the claim that the searches were limited to legitimate safety concerns.
That distinction is central to the case.
Police officers can have valid reasons to access surveillance systems, but using the same tools to monitor someone connected to a personal relationship raises obvious privacy and abuse-of-power concerns.
Maldonado Retired Before Discipline Could Be Imposed
The department’s internal investigation was essentially complete when Maldonado retired on May 1, 2026.
According to Naperville police spokesperson Rick Krakow, discipline had not yet been administered when Maldonado left the department, which effectively closed the internal process without a formal punishment being imposed.
“The department’s internal investigation was complete but not closed,” Krakow said, explaining that the remaining step had been a disciplinary meeting with the chief.
Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres later addressed the matter publicly, although he did not identify Maldonado by name.
“Last year, we received a complaint alleging that one of our employees may have misused our license plate reader system,” Arres said. “We took the allegations seriously and acted immediately.”
He also said the department recognizes that public safety technology has to be balanced against privacy and public trust, and promised continued audits and stronger safeguards.
The case was also reported to the Illinois Law Enforcement and Training Standards Board.
Stalking Order and No-Contact Agreement Followed
While the investigation was underway, Dowhen went to court and obtained a stalking no-contact order against Maldonado.
That order was later dropped after both men agreed to a separate two-year no-contact and no-stalking agreement.
Dowhen said the entire experience felt like a betrayal of the authority officers are given.
“It’s like a punch in the gut,” he said.
The broader concern is not difficult to understand.
A system designed to help law enforcement locate stolen vehicles, suspects or people connected to active investigations becomes something very different if an officer uses it to keep tabs on someone in his personal life.
That is precisely why these tools require clear rules, auditing and consequences when access is misused.
Defense Attorney Says Policy Violations May Not Be Crimes
Maldonado’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak, told ABC7 that even if the former officer violated department policy, that does not automatically mean he committed a criminal offense.
“Officers have the right to use the Flock system, at least at this point in time, to protect themselves and their families,” Tomczak said.
He argued that the legal question may come down to whether the department actually allowed the type of access Maldonado used, rather than simply why he used it.
“As crazy as it sounds, his intentions are not going to be relevant,” Tomczak said. “The issue is going to be: Did the department allow him to use it or not?”
When Rivera asked about stalking, Tomczak acknowledged that stalking is a crime but argued that this case is unusual and that Maldonado’s role as an undercover detective, along with claimed safety concerns for himself and his family, would matter to any legal analysis.
Police investigators, however, specifically rejected those safety explanations in their internal findings.
Legal Analyst Sees a Possible Gap in Illinois Law
ABC7 chief legal analyst Gil Soffer said the case may expose a gap between improper police conduct and conduct that can actually be charged under current Illinois law.
“It’s not enough to say that a police officer violated internal laws,” Soffer said. “You’d have to show that a police officer knowingly violated a law, a statute, a constitutional provision.”
He added that Illinois’ official misconduct statute may not neatly cover a case where an officer improperly accesses license plate information for personal reasons.
That is a significant problem because surveillance technology can evolve much faster than criminal law.
Departments may be able to fire officers for misuse, but prosecutors still need a statute that clearly criminalizes the behavior before they can bring charges.
Naperville police and the Will County Sheriff’s Office referred the case to prosecutors, but the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office would not confirm or deny whether an investigation into Maldonado was ongoing.
Dowhen Wants Stronger Safeguards
Rivera reported that the ABC7 I-Team has identified at least 14 Chicago-area cases involving officers accused of misusing Flock technology, with several referred to prosecutors.
Flock Safety has said it has strengthened safeguards designed to prevent misuse, while Naperville police recently updated their own policy governing the system.
For Dowhen, those changes do not erase what happened.
He remains concerned that Maldonado could potentially work in law enforcement again and regain access to the same kinds of surveillance tools.
“He could very well get a job as a police officer again and have, you know, all these same electronic things available to him at any time to stalk anybody he wants,” Dowhen said.
The case highlights a difficult problem that extends beyond one officer and one department.
Automated license plate readers can be valuable investigative tools, but the same power that makes them useful also makes them easy to abuse if access is not tightly controlled.
In Dowhen’s case, the internal investigation found extensive evidence of misuse, yet the legal system may still struggle to determine whether that conduct fits cleanly within an existing criminal statute.
That gap is likely to become more important as police departments rely increasingly on systems capable of tracing where ordinary people travel, work and spend their time.
A former park ranger and wildlife conservationist, Lisa’s passion for survival started with her deep connection to nature. Raised on a small farm in northern Wisconsin, she learned how to grow her own food, raise livestock, and live off the land. Lisa is our dedicated Second Amendment news writer and also focuses on homesteading, natural remedies, and survival strategies. Lisa aims to help others live more sustainably and prepare for the unexpected.
